Lubricator



Nov. 23,1948. R. H. STIL S 2,454,354

' LUBRICATOR Filed May 28, 1945 INVENTOR R/CHARD H. ST/LES Patented Nov. 23, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LUBRICATQR I Richard H. Stiles, Plainwell, Mich. Application May 28, 1945; Serial No. 596,190

This invention relates to a lubricator and particularly to one of the type employing a lubricating pad and having supporting means by which said pad is held in cooperation with the part being lubricated, and means effecting a continuous supply of oil from an oil reservoir to said pad.

eral, the difiiculty has been that when the pad is v itself made from a material capable of lifting the oil by capillary attraction and conveying it to the article being lubricated, the pad soon becomes glazed by the rotation of the shaft against it so that the oil conducting capillary openings are closed or obstructed and the oiling capacity of the pad is diminished On theother hand, where the capillary means have not directly contacted the shaft but rather have delivered the oil first to an intermediate means, the supply has usually been insufiioient and the bearing has run in a more or less oil starved condition. As a result there has been for a long time a considerable need for a lubricating device which would be sufiiciently similar to formerly known types to be interchangeable with them with a minimum of confusion to the operating personnel, which would be easily inserted into and removed from the journal box of standard railway equipment but which would effect a continuous supplyof oil through ajournal over a long period of time without appreciable diminution of its lubricating capacity.

This problem I have solved by relatively simple construction and one which is easily adapted to presently known apparatus. There is provided first a pad of relatively thick rug-type material wherein the individual elements of the material are placed substantially normal to the surface of the shaft being lubricated and the entire back of the pad then covered with a wicking material. Relatively heavy tubular wicking is then partially split and the divided ends turned in opposite directions to be attached to the back of the oiling pad. By the provision of a suitable number of these wicks and their firm attachment thereto, there is provided means for the direct conduction of oil by a continuous strip of wicking from the oil reservoir to practically all parts of the oiling pad. In this wayan adequate supply of oil to 4 Claims. (01. 308 -88) to the shaft.

2 allparts of the pad is assured, but the actual contact with the shaft is made by means which will not glaze over or otherwise be rendered unable to conduct and apply oil to the shaft, and will therefore provide a long and useful period of service without substantial diminution in effectiveness. 1

Accordingly, the principal object of my invention is to provide a lubricating device applicable to a standard journal box which will efiect an ample supply of oil to the bearing members therein.

A further object of my invention is to provide a lubricator applicable to a standard railway journal box which will operate steadily and over a long period of time. I

A further object of my invention is. to'provide lubricatingmeans as aforesaid which are sufiiciently similar to presently known means to be substituted therefor With a minimum of inconvenience and reeducation of operating personnel.

Other objects and purposes of my invention will become apparent as the following description of certain preferred embodiments thereof proceeds. p

In the accompanyin drawings:

Fig. 1 shows a side elevation view of a lubri- 'cator embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 shows a section on line II-II of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a view of the underside of the oiling pad taken along the line III-III of Fig. 2.

Referringfirst to Figure 1 there is shown a resilient standard I supporting an oiling pad 2 in position to contact a shaft and capillary means 3 forconveying oil from a reservoir to the pad.

These parts are associated together as shown and fit within a standardjournal box with the pad resting against the underside of the shaft. The journal box being partially filled with oil, the capillary means 3willextend into it and convey the oil from the reservoir to the pad and thence Referring now more specifically to the drawings, there appears a frame base 4 Which may be of any conventional construction supporting a leaf spring 5 which in turn supports a cooperating leaf spring 6; These two springs acting together form an ordinary elliptic spring which in turn supports an upper frame I. A longitudinal frame member 8 is supported by the upper frame 1 and intur'n supports theoiler pad 2 and the means associated therewith. V

The longitudinal frame member 8 is preferably made from spring steel strip material and has threeslmilar curved stripsl; l0 and II placed at right angles thereto. These parts are all held together by any suitable fastening means, such as the rivets I2, The portion of the pad contacting the shaft is indicated at l3 and comprises a rug-type material having relatively long closely packed elements normally aligned substantially perpendicular to the surface M which contacts the shaft. Below the said pad is firmly sewed a layer of material I5 having a large capacity for the capillary conduction of oil throughout its entire extent.

The wicks I6 are made initially from suitable capillary material woven in a tubular shape as best shown in Figure 3 and partially split to pro- Vide parts I! and [8 extending from the wick in either direction along the underside of the capilapparent to those acquainted with equipment of this type but such variations will all be within the scope of my hereinafter appended claims except as expressly limited thereby.

I claim:

1. A lubricator for a journal comprising: a. pad of oil conducting material and a backing therefor of oil conducting material; a tubular member of oil conducting material having a split portion of which one'element extends in one direction along the underside of said backing material and another element extends in the other direction 1 body of said tubular member depending downlary base material 15. Part I! of the Wick exthe wick member I'la which is a corresponding extension from a similar wick on the other side of the center member 8. The part l8 of the wick extends along the undersurface of the capillary base member I5 to the outer extremity of the pad. The assembly is advantageously bound along the respectively opposite outer edges by the turnedover parts IQ of the capillary base member l5. These turned over parts envelop the respective ends of the partsl8 of the wicks on both sides of the pad and also the supporting strips 9, l0 and H. They are held in place by the rivets 20 engaging the said frame members.

The wick extensions l1 and 1'8 are stitched to the capillary base member l5 by lines of stitching 2| and 22 which follow the respective sides of said extensions and do not at any place go from one side to the other across said wick. In this way a firm holding of the extensions of the wick to the underside of the pad is secured but the free passage of oil throughout the length of the wick is undisturbed.

In the particular construction shown the oiling pad is provided with four wicks each having extensions similar to those above specifically described. In this way substantially all of the bottom surface of the pad is either directly above a portion of the wick having direct and uninterrupted access to the oil reservoir or else very close to such a wick portion. Obviously, the number and arrangement of these wicks may be somewhat variedwithout departing from the spirit of my invention providing only that the greater portion of said lower surface of the pad is covered by these wick extensions.

In operation the lower ends of said wick 3 extend into the oil within the reservoir so that said oil is enabled to travel upward through said wicks and sideward through the wick extensions I"! and I8. In this way oil is conveyed in amp-1e quantity directly to substantially all portions of the underside of the pad, and thence passes to the capillary base material l5 which does cover the entire undersurface of the felt material l3. Through this latter means the oil will be rapidly and amply conveyed to all parts of said rug-like material and from the ends of the several filaments thereo to the axle in contact therewith.

I have therefore disclosed a device which will effect a continuous supply of .oil to the underside of substantially all of an .oiling pad by direct capillary conduction and yetgcontact the shaft by means which will not glaze or otherwise become damaged so as to impair its capacity to pass oil from the body of the pad to the shaft.

Certain variations from the specific structure herein-disclosed and described will probably be wardly from the underside of said pad; and a frame resiliently supporting said pad and associated member; whereby the whole assembly may be placed within a journal housing containing an oil reservoir and a portion of said wick may be submerged in or within said reservoir.

2. A lubricator for a journal comprising: a pad of oil conducting and wear resisting material; comprising a plurality of filaments each normally aligned in a direction substantially perpendicular to the surface of a shaft supported by said journal; a backing memberv of oil conducting mate.- rial covering the entire side of said pad opposite to a shaft contacting surface; a plurality of tubular wick members each partially split and each having one side of said split portion extending along the underside of said backing material in one direction from said wick and the other side extending along the underside of said backing material in the other direction from said wick; said extending elements collectively covering substan- .tially more than one half of the undersurface of said backing member; resilient frame means for holding said pad against said shaft.

3. A lubricator fora journal, comprising: a pad of oil conducting and wear resisting material comprising a plurality of filaments each normally aligned in a direction substantially perpendicular to the surface of a shaft supported by said journal; a backing member of oil conducting material covering the entire side of said pad opposite to the shaft contacting surface; a plurality of tubular wick members each partially split and .each having one side of said split portion extending along the underside of said backing material in one direction from said wick and the other side extending along the underside .of said backing material in the other direction from said wick; said extending elements collectively covering substantially more than one half of the 'undersurface of said backing member; each of said extending elements being affixed to said backing member by stitching aligned parallel to the direction of oil flow therethrough; resilient frame means holding said pad against said shaft.

4. In a lubricator for a journal supported by a shaftcomprising a lubricating pad, a wick having one portion extending along the underside lof'said pad and another portion depending therefrom and frame means resiliently supporting said pad; whereby the entire assembly can be placed within an oil reservoir under said journal for lubricating same; in combination therewith the improvement in pad and wick construction therefor comprising: a pad of oil conducting and wear resisting material comprising a plurality of -filamentseach normally aligned in a direction substantially perpendicular to the surface of said shaft; a backing member of oil conducting ma-- terial covering the entire side of said pad opposite said shaft contacting surface; a plurality of a tubular wick members each partially split and each having one side of said split portion extending along the underside of said backing material in one direction from said wick, and the other side extending along the underside of said backing material in the other direction from said wick; said extending elements collectively covering substantially more than one-half of the undersurface of said backing member and each of said extending elements being afi'ixed to said backing member by stitching aligned parallel to oil flow therethrough.

RICHARD H. STILES.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

Number 10 Number UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Trent Mar. 12, 1872 McDonald May 30, 1876 Brown Apr. 24, 1900 Grece Apr. 26, 1938 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain 1910 Germany Aug. 19, 1892 France Nov. 14, 1932 

